Behind the Mask
by AirFireWaterEarth
Summary: <html><head></head>When escaping the Red Death, Hiccup and Toothless were marked. Now on the scent trail of a murderous dragon, Hiccup leaves with Toothless, not to linger anyplace. Five years time, Berk is thriving, but right on the map of the Red Death. Running is no longer an option for Hiccup and he returns to Berk. But time's toll has had Hiccup become a man in mask, afraid of his true identity.</html>
1. Prologue

**Summary: When escaping the Red Death, Hiccup and Toothless were marked. Now on the scent trail of a murderous dragon, Hiccup leaves with Toothless, not to linger anyplace. Five years time, Berk is thriving, but right on the map of the Red Death. Running is no longer an option for Hiccup and he returns to Berk. But time's toll has had Hiccup become a man in mask, afraid of his true identity.**

**Behind the Mask**

_Prologue_

"She's like the queen bee and they're the workers!" Astrid squealed softly, looking down at this red, massive, ferocious... _thing_.

Hiccup was excited at the revelation; he really was. Some of the excitement even crept on to his face, but what Hiccup really wanted to do was get _out_. This extremely dangerous beehive, with an extremely dangerous dragon, was going to notice the intruders any moment.

"Come on, bud," Hiccup whispered to Toothless, "Let's get out of here."

As they were about to make a break for it, Astrid said something that sparked Hiccup's attention.

"Why don't they leave?" She questioned.

Hiccup mulled over the idea for a moment before he answered, "Bees don't stray from their queen."

Astrid shook her head.

"But Toothless did!" Astrid exclaimed, barely remembering to whisper.

"I don't kn — "

Something caught Hiccup's eye: a gronkle scratching at a rather distinct mark on his side. He'd seen another one as he entered, but he never took any note of it, after all, Vikings were proud warriors for a reason. But Vikings leaving the exact same mark? They were too messy for that. Hiccup looked around, noting the mark on every dragon.

Hiccup looked to Astrid, who had been scrutinizing the lair, and tapped her shoulder.

"We have to get out of here," Hiccup said breathlessly, eyes wide.

"What do you —"?

"She-she marks them, gives them a scent," Hiccup latched his foot into the harness, "Toothless, we have to go before —"

A monstrous roar rang out, startling the dragons into flee.

"She finds out we're new recruits," Hiccup finished exasperatedly. He sighed before escalating into a scream, "Go, Toothless!"

Foot already in place, they took off. Hiccup felt Astrid twist around in the seat, then freeze.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked over the noise.

"She's gone!" Astrid yelled back.

Hiccup turned around to find that the dragon was, indeed, gone.

"Where did she —" Hiccup was cut off by a thunderous roar in front of him. "Found her," Hiccup concluded weakly.

Everything slowed for a moment, and Hiccup could see everything, feel everything, _and smell_ everything clearly. The calm, collected dragon opened her jaws, and everything went blurry for Hiccup. The dragon gave what looked like a cruel smile and nipped twice. One nip hit Toothless's left, front shoulder. The second hit Hiccup's right thigh. Hiccup dodged before the dragoness hit Astrid, ignoring the sting of the venom in his leg. Toothless also felt the pain, and indicated he did my twitching his shoulder.

Hiccup flew a bit blindly, but thoroughly to get out of that Hel hole. It was absolute chaos. Finally, Hiccup pulled aside of the flock of dragons and landed in His and Toothless's meeting place, disturbing some water as they landed.

"That's it! That's the nest!" Astrid cried as she descended onto the ground, "We have to tell your dad!"

"No! No, we should _not_ tell my dad. That, that would be a very bad idea," Hiccup replied, grabbing Astrid's arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Why not? This is what we've been working for. This is what we've wanted to— " Astrid looked at Toothless and stopped.

"What," Hiccup asked as he jumped to the ground, fully knowing "What have we wanted to do to the _dragon_ nest, Astrid?"

"Destroy it." Astrid answered quietly.

Their conversation was filled with a large, uncomfortable silence that only the crickets and wind in the night wanted to break.

"So, we won't tell your dad," Astrid amended, "What's next?"

Hiccup swallowed.

"Well, you will go to town and forget you ever met me and I — "

Hiccup stopped. He knew what he had to do. He just didn't want to do it. The air around him grew thick and Toothless took a step forward to comfort his friend.

"You'll what?" Astrid pushed.

"I'll... leave." Hiccup looked at the ground, afraid to look Astrid in the eye.

"What! Why?!" Astrid cried, "I thought you were going to work this out!"

"I know, I know what I said," Hiccup said, tracing the lines on the grass with his eyes, "But..."

He let his words ring through the air, too petrified to share his thoughts.

" 'But' what? Hiccup, what happened in the nest?" Astrid demanded.

"It was what I was trying to tell you," Hiccup said quietly, "All the dragons in there are marked. They find food for their queen, because, if they don't, they'll be hunted down by those who do. Or even worse," Hiccup looked up at Astrid, "her."

Hiccup watched as Astrid slowly put it together in her head. Her eyes moved with every thought, and Hiccup doubted that those eyes would be easy to forget.

"You were marked." Astrid said it. It wasn't a question, she _knew_.

"And Toothless was too. But don't you worry, you're just fine! So you can move along now, forget this ever happened, and pretend I ran away when I'm not here tomorrow," Hiccup said, faking perkiness.

"But you _are_ running," Astrid stated bluntly.

"No, Astrid, I'm not." Hiccup's eyes grew hard. "You saw that thing too. If it got to Berk, it would _destroy_ us. Destroy them. You guys? You get my point!"

Hiccup threw up his hands and raked them through his hair, collapsing to the ground. Toothless hovered over him, nudging him for condolence. Astrid however, stayed in place.

"Then I'm going back to town, and when they find out you're gone, I'll tell them how you really _are_ the hero," Astrid told him.

Hiccup shook his head.

"They'd never believe you. And even if they did, finding me a hero would be the last thing they'd think about." Hiccup stood up, "Besides, I'm not a hero."

Astrid didn't turn back to go to the village. Instead, she grasped Hiccup's shoulders.

"You've got what you need?"

Hiccup nodded.

"It's in that basket I was planning to use to runaway. _Earlier_," Hiccup gave a small, lopsided smile.

"Well, good."

Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement and mounted onto Toothless, strapping the basket onto the back. He strapped his foot into the steer and readied Toothless for take off.

"Oh!" Astrid shouted before Hiccup was too fully elevated, "And remember, you didn't runaway!"

Hiccup himself said that to her. So why didn't he agree?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah! My first chapter over 1000 words? Geesh. You should see some of my other first chapters. They're, like, 600 words. And that's plus A/N! Oh, well. It's not like this is a long one either.**

**Anyways, onto the little details of this story. I know, I know. **_**Another '**_**what if' story. But you've got to admit, it has a bit of a spin. Well, here is why I started it when they got to the cave of the Red Death. I felt like a lot (more like all, but, hey, some are unaccounted for) of the 'what if Hiccup did runaway' stories leave out that one bonding flight that I felt was crucial to Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. So, I decided to add it in! Plus it's got a bit more drama and motive.**

**Also, I'd like to say that, for starters, that bit with the Red Death what the first and most drama I've ever written. So, please don't go all hater on me. If you say I needed a bit more details, that's fine (I've thought of that myself). I promise to read up on my "How To Write A Drama Scene" (Hey! That's a good name...) book.**

**Last thing. I know this is my second HTTYD fanfic, and I'm not even on my third chapter with the first, but I REALLY liked this idea. Plus, let's face it, no one really cares about How To Define You Life And Dragon anyways.**

**That's it!**

**Love,**

**Sam**

**P.S. (HA! That's right, I'm not done.) You will only read this once. So remember: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon 1 or 2.**

**There.**


	2. Chapter 1: There's No Place Like NotHome

**Behind the Mask**

_**Chapter One: There's No Place Like Not-Home**_

_Astrid_

There were times where Astrid wondered if Hiccup's leaving had been her fault. If only she hadn't been so thick headed as to _run_ and try to tell the village of Hiccup's new friend, just because she was, and she'd admit it, jealous that Hiccup had been viewed better than her in dragon training. And now he was gone. Hiccup had been gone for nearly five years and Astrid was still thinking about it.

Now, she also knew that Hiccup had been trying to run off in the first place, but, perhaps, he would have thought better of it. Or Toothless's tail had been destroyed and he needed to go back. Or they would have found him. Or, or, or. It wouldn't matter. The point was; Hiccup had had a choice.

Astrid had been told that grieving people always blamed themselves. It was what she was doing now, Astrid would tell herself. But, of course, the grievance in Astrid always told her that blaming herself was what a _guilty_ person would do. On and on Astrid would go blaming herself over and over again, but never once daring to voice her thoughts. They were always between herself and Imaginary Hiccup.

Understand that, for a while Astrid had talked to herself, only to realize that she always pictured Hiccup next to her nodding away. For instance, right now, Astrid was alone in the forest, taking her frustration out on the trees and her axe.

"Was it really my fault?" Astrid asked, swinging her axe towards a tree.

Imaginary Hiccup hardly ever spoke, except for when he had something sarcastic to say. So Imaginary Hiccup didn't answer Astrid's question.

"I mean," Astrid continued, "You would have left if I hadn't come, but still..."

Astrid paused to go dislodge her axe from the tree.

"You stilled had a choice." Astrid spun around and practically chucked her axe at the next poor victim known as a pine tree.

Imaginary Hiccup never said anything about Astrid and her fault because he was far too nice for that. Most of the time he just shook his head.

After going to retrieve her axe once again, only to find that the sharp part of the axe had broken off.

"Aw, man. Now I'm going to have to get a new one," Astrid faced Imaginary Hiccup, "You know how bad Gobber is at fixing things. Does he make good weapons? Sure. But he's awful at fixing things. Maybe if he'd just get a new apprentice. But, then again, who could replace you?"

This time, Imaginary Hiccup gave a sad smile and vanished.

Astrid sighed and trudged back to the village.

Hiccup, in her mind, hadn't changed at all. He was still the awkward fourteen-year-old with green eyes and forever-messy brown hair, despite how much she and Berk had changed. Most everyone's physical features remained the same. Some Vikings had gone fairly gray and the teens had grown up a bit, but Hiccup would have been able to recognize them if he'd seen them again. The village, however, was a different story.

The Vikings of Berk had encountered the glories of trade. So now, at the end of every week, ships from other islands (sometimes countries, if they were lucky) would adorn the docks and any signs of dragon raids were wiped away. Most of the clear and peaceful (when dragons weren't around) streets became busy with yelling merchants and traders. It was funny; dragons never came when the market days came.

While on the subject of dragon raids, the dragon raids became more and more frequent after Hiccup left. Maybe it was their queen, angry that she had let such valuable pons get away. Either way, the Vikings had to one up their defense system, and that included making the majority of buildings at Berk out of stone, and some of it even metal. Not all of Berk, though, for it wasn't cheep and was incredibly hot once hit with fire, making it more of a hazard than anything.

For both dragon attacks and trade purposes, Berk was in the midst of making a wall. Vikings, being flamboyant people, wanted their walls high. Too high, in Astrid's opinion, for it to be a reality for the people of Berk. In fact, the wall seemed to be a bad idea in the first place. What would it do to protect them from dragon attacks? They flew! And for intruders, what would it do, give them something to climb? The wall was a silly idea and waste of labor.

But no one would listen to Astrid. After all, she was the girl who ran down the hill, sputtering that there was a giant queen dragon that marked other dragons. And people. But Hiccup had been right; no one had believed her. Astrid knew it was a bad idea to say anything about the nest, Hiccup, or Toothless, and, without those key terms, her idea was thought of as nothing more than a mindless teen, desperate for attention, despite that fact that 'Astrid' and 'desperate' had never been in the same sentence before.

Astrid had changed as well, although her physical features were more or less the same. But the entire village couldn't figure out why she couldn't be seen when the dragon raids happened. Of course, they'd never be able to hear the truth. Astrid was like a Viking in that way, always so stubborn. But her thirst for dragon blood ended rather abruptly, and she had developed an obsession to go to Hiccup and Toothless's hide out. It was where she went during dragon raids. Of course, every so often, she would find one of Toothless's scales. Once she even found...

The thought made Astrid still on one of the hills, merely meters from the village. There she pulled out a drawing.

It was of a dragon, a Night Fury in particular. It's left tail looked smudged, as if drawn, erased, and re-drawn. Astrid had no doubt in her mind that it was of Toothless. When she found the drawing, Astrid was fascinated and clung to the picture, analyzing every inch of the drawing. Not only was the handy work so exciting, it was so _Hiccup_. Stoick had known that too. Which was why Stoick had almost taken it from her.

Stoick. Oh, poor Stoick. In truth, the village never believed that Hiccup had run away. For some reason, even after Hiccup was dubbed "the Promising", they didn't believe Hiccup had the guts to run away. They all believed he had died (or, more specifically been killed), despite Astrid's best attempts. Stoick was the only one to believe her. So many said it was a father's grief, to believe that Hiccup was alive. But Astrid knew that, deep down; he'd known what Hiccup was capable of. Unfortunately, over time, Stoick had begun to believe that Hiccup had, indeed, bitten the dust.

Those first two years were awful, full of grief and disbelief. Astrid folded the drawing back up and made her way over the hill to be met with the sight of hundreds of people.

"How could I forget," Astrid said, turning to the reappeared Imaginary Hiccup, "its Market Day."

_Hiccup_

"Are you ready, Bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless over the wind, unstrapping himself and snapping Toothless's tail into place.

Toothless gurgled happily in response.

"Good," Hiccup said, mostly to himself.

Hiccup felt at his mask, something he had grown habit to, and felt himself linger over a certain spot. He shook his head. It had been a bad mistake.

"Ready, set, go!" Hiccup flung himself off of Toothless and sent himself into a spiraling free-fall.

The fall thrust wind into Hiccup's hair, and Hiccup savored the feeling. His dreaded mask was always on, and he missed the feeling of wind in his face, but the mask protected him from whiplash and allowed him to see clearly, despite the ever-increasing amounts of wind. At least, that's what he told himself. Hiccup bit at his tongue and shook his head, barely remembering to spread open his arms. He had remembered, thankfully, and his under-arm wings caught him mid-air.

Toothless snorted in excitement, giving Hiccup his fair share of singular flight time. It wasn't often that they got extra time on their hands to do something like this.

Hiccup had been nearly everywhere in the last five years. Mecca, Savannah, Athens, you name it, Hiccup had been there. With Toothless, of course. Unfortunately, Hiccup hadn't been anywhere twice, except for some rare occasions where Hiccup risked staying two days due to trading purposes.

Hiccup felt that his elevation was decreasing, so he whistled for Toothless to fly just beneath Hiccup, allowing Hiccup to land on Toothless and lead them back to their current residence.

"That was good!" Hiccup encouraged Toothless, unlatching the tail so that he could steer.

Toothless gave a content whinny (yes, like a horse), and concentrated on incoming obstacles. He knew that Hiccup going to go into deep thought. It was a usual for Hiccup.

To say that the last five years for Hiccup had been successful would be two truths and a lie. Truth number one would have been that Hiccup had become a successful merchant. A second truth in success would include Hiccup's success in inventions, specifically for dragons. His wings, fire sword, and auto-lock for Toothless's fin were few in many. The lie would include the one thing Hiccup hoped to be a success; and that was being elusive from the Red Death (as she was so fondly labeled) and her cronies. In his first year, he'd been unable to get a handle on the whole "do not stay in one place, no matter what" and he had the scar consequence.

Ah, that precious, wonderful, awful, horrible, hideous scar. Hiccup had never been conceited. After all, there wasn't much to see. But this scar hit a drum in Hiccup that, no matter what taunt or tease sent to him of his scrawny figure, had never been hit before. At least his image had not made him cringe away. It was a rather prominent, pink line that lead from his right cheek bone (below his eye) to the corner of his mouth so it was by no means lovely, but this scar wasn't had horrible or revolting as Hiccup had lead on. What was horrible and revolting was the way it was earned, or rather, _rewarded_.

It wasn't often Hiccup allowed himself to think about that night, but there was no time like the present. A poet would explain it as dark and stormy night to mix up the feelings, but it was honestly rainy that night. There wasn't exactly thunder or howling wind, but the rain was reason enough to have to stay inside. It went on for three days, and Hiccup and Toothless went by two without a flaw. The third day, however, could not have had a more different perspective.

Hiccup had just begun getting used to that dry feeling he got when he left and place and had to remember to avoid it at all costs. So spending a night where he spent the day made a place feel like a home. Spending _two days _faultlessly made that abode feel like a safe heaven. But, of course, the feeling was just too good for the Red Death not to break. She had sent a Nightmare that night. It was then Hiccup realized that there were no kindness classifications for dragons, and that it was an awful idea to give them their trust at first sight.

He'd tried so hard to train that dragon, and gave that lovely scar as the reward. In a way, Hiccup had become a Viking that day. In the same way, Hiccup had also proved he wasn't. True, he had stopped trusting so often, but he had let that dragon go, despite that Nightmare being within shooting range of Toothless.

Hiccup didn't spare a day after the scar became prominent before making a mask. Each and every hammer and needle that he had put into that mask, Hiccup would tell himself that it would protect him from winds. But a voice from deep down told him it was a lie. That Hiccup truly hated that scar, and was trying to hide it from the most of the world and _himself_. Of course, Toothless saw the scar every so often. He never really cared.

Toothless. Thank Thor for Toothless. Toothless was a best friend that, as Hiccup would sadly admit, shared Hiccup's burden. But they shared it together. Toothless could probably care less about what Hiccup looked liked, hit like, or smelled like (although the last one would get a few jabs here and there). If Hiccup hadn't had it for the gods above, he would have thanked each and every one of them separately for the gift of Toothless.

To say he didn't miss Astrid would be like saying he wasn't grateful for Toothless. She was the ne person who had gotten a view of the world above, the dragon world. Astrid had seen the beauty of it all, and pushed aside her Viking-ness for it. Hiccup often wondered what she was up to. Was she still fighting dragons? Probably, after all, it was her duty. Did she miss him? There was a possibility, but Astrid had only seen the real Hiccup for one day, not nearly long enough for five years of remembrance.

Absent mindedly, Hiccup stroked Toothless's scales, and Toothless was indicated of his friend's despair. To help, Toothless sped up to get Hiccup on his toes and mind elsewhere from its pit.

They landed in a cove where Hiccup had left his gear. Normally, Hiccup would have spent the night since it was far enough from where he had been trading, but it was recent news that his Red Death was restless and on the move. Hiccup was going to have to add to the map of recent sightings; he'd heard of one today. But first...

"Why don't we count up today's earnings? I have a feeling that you need a new tail buckle," Hiccup told Toothless, adoring at how normal and careless it sounded.

**A/N: Well, thank you guys for the thoughtful reviews! I have to give Guest a hand for giving me the idea of the scar; it was a great idea! I did cut out the actually encountering the Red Death part for "inner mask" purposes, but thanks!**

**I didn't mention this in the previous chapter, but I hope I'm portraying these characters well enough. Of course, the angst gives off a rather OOC feeling, and this has been mostly exposition, but I hope I'm doing well otherwise!**

**Please review, it's my rule that it's five reviews before update, but I didn't feel like I should spoil the day and add to the A/N with such a thing. Didn't really matter anyways, since you guys were such nice reviewers! Just felt like getting that out of the way.**

**Love,**

**Sam**

**P.S. This chapter was 2380 words! I'm making that a thing now.**


	3. Chapter 2: Drawing a Blank

**Behind The Mask**

_**Chapter Two: Drawing a Blank**_

_Astrid_

Market days were stressful enough without rumors of a giant dragon being seen all over the world. Most said that it was nothing to worry about, mostly because this mysterious dragon popped up in the most obscure of places, but Astrid had a feeling she knew _exactly_ how real this elusive dragon was. This was why she nearly dropped her basket when at the Foreign Produce tent she loved so much.

"That's right! Just stomped down, I heard. Then it dug into the earth like a mole," A stringy foreigner (probably a fisherman due to the large amounts of worms in his pockets) said to a burly man across from him.

They'd been courteous enough to step away from the exit of the tent, but that didn't stop Astrid from hearing the conversation.

"How'd you know? Somethin' like that never leaves anythin' to survive!" The burly man gave the fisherman his opinion.

The idea made Astrid loose her breath. What if the Queen was after Hiccup? Or worse, _what if the Queen had gotten to Hiccup?_

"Excuse me you two," Astrid cut in, "I've heard that you two know of this huge dragon. I was wondering if you guys knew about any of the survivors?"

"Got none, as far as I know," the fisherman replied, "I mean, you had to have _wings_ to get away from that creature!"

The burly man gave the fisherman a look.

"Now I know why you're no' married," he turned to Astrid, "I'm terribly sorry, miss. I'm sure there were some survivors."

All Astrid heard from that was the insult, not that the man even realized how insulting it was...

"Excuse me! But I happen to-to-to be able take on the idea of death!" Astrid said with a stutter and a huff before walking away, forgetting to ask if anyone had seen a black dragon and its rider get swallowed up.

While it wasn't true that she still killed dragons, Astrid still _could_. She wasn't one of those watery-eyed "oh, woe me!" women. Right? Without taking much thought to it, Astrid made a beeline for the Dragon Training Arena. There, she grabbed an axe and unlatched a dragon's door. Out walked a Deadly Nadder.

It being market day, there weren't many people who cared to walk around the dragon ring. Therefore, Astrid didn't hesitate to give a large battle cry before swinging her axe towards the dragon's head. It was just one dragon! One dragon wouldn't make a difference. They had at least three Deadly Nadders. One wouldn't be missed. It was then Astrid looked at it eyes... and stopped the axe.

That was it. Astrid _was_ one of those watery-eyed women who couldn't bear the thought of death. She was no longer a brave warrior. Astrid let out staggered breaths before dropping the axe and running out of the arena.

Imaginary Hiccup wasn't going to save her this time. All he could do was punch her in the gut with his imaginary eyes. Hiccup was imaginary to her! That was it. He was gone, gone because of her stupid mistake. Now no one was there to tell her that it was okay to be scared to kill a dragon. Instead she was alone. All alone.

Astrid stopped running when she reached Hiccup and Toothless's cove. There, she dropped to the ground and burst into tears. She was Astrid Hofferson, _crying, _with nothing to her name. Sure, she hadn't been alive long enough to find that official, but she couldn't even do what Vikings valued most, and that was killing dragons. Running was out of the options. Finding Hiccup? That was near impossible, even if she had had a dragon. She was stuck on this god-forsaken island, alone, as a nobody.

A rough, yet comforting material rubbed against Astrid's arm. Startled, Astrid looked up at the eyes of the Deadly Nadder she had failed to kill only moments before. Carefully, Astrid reached out her hand to rubbed at its muzzle...

And it rubbed right back.

"W-w-well, hi there. I'm Astrid, the worst Viking and friend in the land of Odin's creation, nice to meet you. Did you follow me here?"

_Well, duh_, Astrid thought to herself, _of course she followed you here. How else?_

The dragon didn't seem to think it was a dumb question, instead looking intently at Astrid.

Astrid wracked her head for any idea on how to get on a Deadly Nadder's good side.

"Well, aren't you a pretty girl?" Astrid told the Deadly Nadder, remembering how vain they were.

_Ugh. Was that the best you've got_, Astrid chastised herself.

"Hiccup would be better at this than me. But it's not like he's going to pop up here and start sweeping you off your feet." Astrid sighed at the thought.

The Nadder just seemed content with the stroking and measly compliment. This didn't seem like a very critical creature. She seemed to be a great candidate for a good talk. It wasn't like the Nadder would start yelling at Astrid for being such and imbecile.

"Well, I can't just stick you back in the arena, can I?"

The Nadder responded by stepping back a few steps, breaking off Astrid's strokes.

"Alright, alright. It wasn't going to do that," Astrid reasoned.

Some of the tension in the dragon lessened.

"But now you've got to stay here," Astrid continued, "I've got to go back to the village and cover up my tracks."

The Deadly Nadder seemed fairly content with this answer and allowed Astrid to stroke her colorful, beak-like snout one last time.

"So, see you tomorrow!" Astrid bid, ecstatic for her first real friend in years, even if it _was_ a dragon.

She hoped no one had found her basket. That would lead to her 'treachery' or if not, black mail. Or some serious talk from the chief. Or some blood (just because Astrid couldn't kill a dragon didn't mean she was afraid to give a knuckle sandwich). Or lots of lies. Or... man why was life so complicated?

_Hiccup_

Having a dragon was great for financial purposes; they had heat, strong hunting skills, and great transportation, all for free. So it was no surprise that Hiccup had earned a good profit that day. It wasn't until the very heart winter that they usually struggled.

"I'd say we should make you that new tail, but I think that we're fine in that category," Hiccup told his dragon friend.

Toothless looked down at his left tail fin, now almost identical to the right, thanks to Hiccup's collection of his Night Fury scales, and flicked his tail, displaying it to its full extent. It was, indeed, rather remarkable. It would have been better, in Hiccup's opinion, if the ridiculously loyal dragon would just let him make a self operated tail (using _make_ instead of _put on_ because Toothless destroyed the last one).

"Well, that just leaves us some more cushion money, I guess."

Hiccup packed the coins into his bag and went into some more pressing matters. He laid out the map with red marks in many different locations and black marks in, while there were quite a few, a significantly smaller quantity as the red.

Hiccup took out some charcoal and added a black mark to the map. Looking up at Toothless, Hiccup gave a faltering smile.

"Well, good news, bud. She isn't coming for us." Toothless gargled in happiness. "The bad news," Hiccup continued, "is that we're dead anyways."

Toothless cocked his head to the side in wonder, so Hiccup turned the map towards him. The poor dragon had no idea still, and looked back up to Hiccup for help.

Hiccup pointed at the red marks.

"Those are where we have been." He then pointed to the black marks, "Those are where the Red Death has been. As you see the black marks are not really close to the red. However, there's a pattern to the black marks. It's hard to see, but if you don't overthink it, you see a pattern."

Hiccup traced his finger over the marks and continued on.

"The Red Death never goes anywhere further than an one hundred mile radius from the nest. On the flip side, she goes everywhere in that one hundred mile radius. Just discreetly."

Hiccup looked up at his dragon companion, who had seemed to understand. Most of it at least. Okay, Toothless only understood the minority of it. It was okay. Hiccup knew how to summarize it.

"The Red Death's coming for Berk."

Hiccup didn't expect Toothless to give a cry of anguish or anything, but he didn't expect Toothless to shrug and lay down to try and get in a nap before their next destination.

Hiccup frowned.

"I think I was pretty clear. The. Red. Death. Is. Coming. For. Berk."

Toothless didn't respond in any way that said that he was sympathetic.

Hiccup groaned.

"Toothless, these entire five years were so that this didn't happen! The reason for the _Nightmare incident_."

Toothless's headshot up at mention of such a sore subject come out of his human friend's mouth. Not that he felt bad for Hiccup. He just... wasn't quite the same after that.

Hiccup felt relieved at he had finally gotten to Toothless. He needed some support, and, as of five years ago, it was only Toothless. Actually, that was his entire life, but he didn't have the guts to think about anything that hadn't taken place in the last five-year's duration without receiving the urge to cry. Plus, Hiccup didn't have time to think about things other than how to drive that Red Death away from Berk.

"Alright, my most the favorite time of day, strategy time." Hiccup announced, taking a seat in front of Toothless.

"So here's what we need to do: we need to get that Red Death away form Berk. Any suggestions?"

As usual, there was no reply to that.

"Okay then, how about we fly away from Berk about, eh, twenty to thirty miles away."

Toothless looked at Hiccup in an intense way and openly refused to answer that.

"Why are you— oh." Hiccup forgot to take off his mask.

While Toothless was fine with Hiccup wearing his mask with others around, he didn't like it when Hiccup wore his mask when they were just by themselves. It was usually expressed during strategy time, when it wasn't all about Toothless. Man, Hiccup needed a better name for that. "Strategy time" sounded like they would say in grammar school. In fact, Hiccup was pretty sure it was something they'd say. That didn't really matter.

Hiccup reluctantly took off his mask and Toothless snapped back into the conversation.

"So, any ideas on what I just said?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless gave a shake of his head.

"So it's a bad idea?" A nod.

"Oookay then."

Hiccup thought over it for a moment. Toothless was right. How would two renegades catch the attention compared to a whole village of food? Hiccup thought it over, and soon had a plan. No... He needed another plan. That one would hurt too much to do...

Toothless watched at his best friend's eye grew hard in determination. But they also grew cold, making the dragon believe that Hiccup was going to do something that would put him into another trance-like state and a new mask... the last part was a bit undetermined, but still.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said rather slowly, "I have an idea that we've got a ten to twenty percent chance of surviving and a fifty percent chance of working."

Hiccup swallowed and nodded to himself. He had to do this. It was his only chance for Toothless, himself, and Berk.

Toothless gave Hiccup a pointed look. He didn't want anything to get Hiccup killed. Honestly, the kid did so too often. Like those wings... at first they nearly gave him a heart attack when Hiccup flung himself off of his back.

Needless to say, Hiccup and Toothless had some very different opinions on the situation.

* * *

><p><strong>Words: 2011<strong>

**Song that for some reason reminded me of this chapter: Cool Kids by Echosmith**

**A/N: Hello! So, here are a few things to say before I get to the real rambling. Unlike most of the time, I'm not winging it for the plan. I know exactly what it will be; I just feel it would be best placed in the next chapter.**

**Review Responses:**

**six samurai of dragon order: Thanks! I found that funny too. I originally had Astrid joke to herself about it, but it seemed kind of distracting to the chapter.**

**erifetim: Why thank you! And, to answer your question, the Red Death **_**does**_** have a limit, but Hiccup doesn't know that yet. My idea of it is that some places are the King's territory, but, since he hasn't met his mother yet, Hiccup doesn't know. This is just a theory that's got a 30% chance of being used in this story, mostly because I have the ending planned out.**

**Hiccup-ALG: Wow! I think that's one of the most flattering reviews I've ever gotten. Thank you!**

**Yuleen75: To you, I have great gratitude!**

**Blue – The First Traveler: Thank you! I've been told I got too fast, so I'm trying to take this slow.**

**Malik the Night Angel: Thank you! And you'll have to find a way to thank one of the Guests in the first chapter. He/she gave me the idea!**

**Angryhenry: Funny name (not as in insult)! I hope you liked this chapter too!**

**snivysoso: * takes a bow * Why thank you! * sounds as Julie Andrews as I can ***

**Okay, so back to some rambling stuff that may or may not answer some questions. The song thing at the top just kind of... happened, something from the top of my head. Astrid seems a little OOC in this (or a lot, depends on how you interpret it). If she or Hiccup or even Toothless is, review **_**with**_** a way to help change that. **

**Another thing, if you caught my reference to Gift of A Night Fury (or whatever its called), kudos. Please remember that it does not mean I will understand other references. I've seen the movie, that Gift of A Night Fury short, and a few Defenders of Berk episodes (hint: Few! Like, two or three!). I have not read the books (curse you Amazon!) and I haven't seen the majority of the Defenders of Berk episodes (although, does anyone else find Hiccup kind of really OOC in them, or is it just me?).**

**IMPORTANT IF YOU LIKE THIS STORY!**

**I know this seems kind of stupid, but, if it weren't for my adorable, three-year-old brother, I would not be writing this right now. He went through an HTTYD phase and I watched all of those things mentioned above (I've also watch Iron Man: Armored Adventures and that weird "the Avengers all have kid" movie...). So give a hand for my little bro!**

**All right, I'm done. XD**

**Love,**

**Sam**

**P.S. There's a new picture up for the cover. (I don't own it) I added the title and some hidden messages, see if you can read all of them!**


	4. Chapter 3: All We Know Is Dead

**Behind the Mask**

**Chapter 3: All We Know Is Dead**

_Astrid_

It'd been three weeks since the last dragon raid. Three. Whole. Weeks. The people of Berk had ever looked happier. Everyone seemed to walk lighter steps, breathe better air, and dream brighter dreams, everyone, including Astrid. Not only were the raids a loss of stress, but also she and Stormfly (as Astrid has dubbed her after an unfortunate incident concerning a storm in which the dragon came back rather charred) were getting along better than Astrid could have imagined. Stormfly was so... so _forgiving_ for what Astrid had done. Astrid wished Hiccup were there, especially since there was a celebration in the Great Hall.

Astrid had never been a fan of these celebrations to begin with, but they seemed to be less of a "celebration" and more of a "strained hope" since Hiccup had left. Luckily for Astrid, tonight was born of true celebration rather than a last ditch effort to escape from the oncoming darkness. Still, Astrid felt like a duck in a nest of geese.

Astrid knew she was going to regret coming to this as soon as Snotlout walked up to her.

"Hey, babe. Aren't you glad that _this_," Snotlout pointed to himself, "finally chased off all of those dragons? Why don't you get me a drink to show me your appreciation?"

Astrid scrunched her nose. Snotlout's breath smelt of strong alcohol. A drink was the last thing he needed. Not that Astrid would have done so anyways.

"I'm _not_ your babe. And the only drink you should get is some water._" _Astrid shoved Snotlout in the chest and decided she'd had enough of this Hel.

Inconspicuously as she could, Astrid snuck out of the Great Hall. As soon as left, she took a deep breath of the clean air. Stormfly would probably enjoy some company right about now. Having decided on it, Astrid trekked her way to the woods.

While on her path, Astrid wondered if this was how Hiccup used to feel. Frightened, yet right on top of the world. Imaginary Hiccup hadn't shown up in a while. Astrid did miss his face, but she felt so much cleaner without him. Not that she would feel that way if Hiccup were to actually show up.

Stormfly barely even let Astrid reach the bottom of the alcove before bombarding her in appreciation of her return, also (not to subtly) searching Astrid for food.

"Sorry, girl. I don't have any fish."

Stormfly snorted in disappointment, but did nothing else otherwise.

Astrid sat down a rock and shook her head. Session time.

"You know, I should be thrilled that these dragon attacks are stopping, but something doesn't feel right! That means that those dragons are no longer feeding their queen. Even if the queen really _were_ on the move, why would she stop a large supply of food? It's not like the dragons can't track her or anything."

Suddenly, Astrid's eyes lit up. _Of course_! Stormfly could easily take her to the queen! It was so simple. But what if Stormfly wasn't marked? Could she be leading Stormfly into a trap?

In all honesty, Astrid didn't have to decide. For, the moment she was about to mention this idea to Stormfly, an alarm went off.

"Night Fury! Hide!"

Like Hel Astrid was going to hide.

_Hiccup_

Hiccup had never believed he could hate one of his own ideas more. Staring down at Berk, he could feel himself wanting to shy away at the island he called home, once upon a time. Once. He hardly even recognized the island. There were so many different buildings of different materials; many of stone, some of wood (mainly just the Great Hall), and even a few metallic structures. Hiccup could only hope that the people there had stayed the same.

Then again, maybe he didn't. If he didn't recognize the people, would it be easier for him to be reunited with them, only to once again leave? Maybe.

Hiccup sighed through his nose at the sound of an alarm. He hoped that these people didn't start attacking. Dear Odin, could this day get any worse?

He had to land. If he didn't, Hiccup would never gain the courage to return again. This was it.

Slowly and steadily, Hiccup guided Toothless into a land. Toothless seemed rather reluctant to do so, tensing and extending his teeth.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay, bud," Hiccup said gently into Toothless's ear, even though he hardly believed it himself.

As soon as they hit the ground, they were surrounded. The oncoming Vikings approached with caution, axes, and blood lust in their eyes. Hiccup refrained searching for his father. Or Astrid.

Unfortunately, Astrid came to him.

"Stop!" She cried.

_No, no, no, Astrid. Let me do this alone_, Hiccup pleaded in his head.

"Thank you, Miss. But I can handle this," Hiccup said aloud.

Astrid turned to look at Hiccup and whispered.

"Uh, hello? You don't have to play dumb around me."

The words hit Hiccup in the gut. This was going to be so hard.

"Ah, uh... You must be Astrid. M-m-my condolences. I am so sorry for your loss."

Both Astrid and the Vikings stopped, and Stoick pushed through the crowd.

"What is the meaning of this? Who is this Beast Man?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup swallowed again. His father hadn't changed a bit, except for some gray here and there.

"I am Catnip. You must be Stoick," Hiccup said to his father, "And once again, the lady must be Astrid. I am so very sorry for your loss. Hiccup— " Hiccup paused at the strange sensation of saying his name as if it weren't his own, "Hiccup was a dear friend of mine."

A gasp went out through the crowd.

"You mean he was alive?" Asked an anonymous voice in the crowd.

The fact that his charade was paying off instilled some confidence in Hiccup.

"Yes. He was. His last wishes were for me to come to Berk and prepare you for an oncoming battle— "

"What battle?" Came another cry from the crowd.

_I don't know. Maybe if you'd let me _finish_ I could tell you!_ Hiccup thought to himself.

"There is a beast if a dragon making her way here. She," Hiccup once again faltered, "she killed Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III."

And then there was silence. Funny, how such a docile thing could be so lethal.

Stoick was the first to recover... or, at least, speak up.

"Then we shall avenge my son!"

A rather loud agreement came from everyone in the crowd. Everyone, except for Astrid. Astrid just shook her head in disbelief, making Hiccup's throat close up. He wished he could tell her the truth, but it was better for everyone... right? Hiccup didn't have a whole lot of time to decide before the Vikings went charging at Toothless.

"Woh, woh, woh. Why would you _do_ that?" Hiccup exclaimed.

"It's the dragon that killed Hiccup!" Cried out a voice, presumably Spitelout.

"No, no. That's a he. _His_ name is Toothless. Hiccup left him for me."

"He's a dragon! Does it matter?" Called another voice.

Hiccup sighed through his nose, "Yes. Yes it does matter. That is Hiccup's dragon. That is my dragon. It is the one dragon that can save you."

Axes were held down, but Stoick walked up to Hiccup in suspicion.

"Well, Catnip, what makes you think we trust you?"

Hiccup threw back his shoulders and set his jaw, looking the man previously known his father in the eyes.

"You don't trust me and I don't trust you. But this was Hiccup's dying wish, and I will abide to it. And if you ever cared for Hiccup, so should you." There that sounded right. Scratch right, _perfect_.

It was a few nerve-wracking moments of staring before Stoick came up with a verdict.

"He shall be allowed to stay until we slay this beast. Then we all have free range," Stoick announced, "But you," Stock gave Hiccup a pointed look, "Will be accommodated as a foreign guest. An inn is a mile that from which you came. You will pay for your nights and food."

Hiccup simply nodded, drained. Just because he was accustomed to staying in strange lands didn't make this any easier.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, this was a way shorter chapter than normal, but was still important. It could have used a few more details, but I feel for Hiccup: I'm drained too. My writing skills have been greatly degraded by my English teacher and this chapter has been going through the mill since last update.**

**Still, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**R & R**

**~ Sam**


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